Lurker > SpeedDemon20

ClayGuida posted...

I just disliked how there were seemingly meta builds that were instant wins and it was near impossible to win with a different build. Like Warrior whirlwind/str buffs = gg, but trying something else would normally equate to a loss.

That's not true. You're just not experienced enough. You gotta learn THE SYNERGIES, KNOW THE SPIRE, and BLOCK. Before you can get any type of scaling going, you need to block. You can't face tank every hallway fight and smash them with your strength. You'll die before reaching the boss. You also can't rely on the game having to give you the cards you know.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d3086703.jpg
This is the run I did just now. I haven't played in months and thought I'd be rusty, but I did A20H no problem.

Act 1 boss was Slime Boss, so I grabbed fire breathing and evolve. Slime Boss spits slimes into your deck, and fire breathing and evolve both make use of that. Evolve draws more cards if you draw a status and fire breathing does damage if you draw a status or curse. That easily took care of act 1.

Then I grabbed Pandora's Box because your strikes and defends are generally always garbage. From there, I built my deck around PBox. It was a pretty solid box, aside from the clash.

Exhaust is Ironclad's strongest mechanic. He has a lot of cards and powers revolving around it.

In my deck, Dark Embrace + Power Through + Second Wind were the cores of my deck. Basic combo of 2 energy gives 25 block and 2 draw MINIMUM.

Act 2 offered me Tiny House, Snecko's Eye, and Cursed Bell. Snecko's Eye could be good because of all my high cost cards, but I took the bell. Not because of the synergy with fire breathing (fire breathing is kinda garbage, but it's good against slime boss lol), but because Power Through + Second Wind were hard carrying and I couldn't risk a turn when they would both cost 2.

Other synergies I abused:
Pellets + Panic Button = Panic Button provided free block and I could remove the debuff with pellets.
Pellets + Speed Potion = Easy 5 dexterity after clearing the dex removal debuff. I abuse this mechanic a lot. I grabbed the speed potion and saved it for the heart. It gave my basic block combo an additional 15 block MINIMUM.
Abacus + Deep Breath = Draw 1 + 6 block for 0 energy. 11 block with the dex buff.
Champion's Belt + Thunderclap = easy 1 energy vulnerable and weakness. Generally I would never take Thunderclap otherwise.
Demon Form + Reaper = Full Health if you get the right fight and can block until your strength is high enough to fully heal off of reaper. Allows you to do more at fires, but again, power through + second wind is what allows the stalling.

And what would've made my deck even more busted is Feel No Pain or Body Slam. But I never came across either, and sometimes that's how it is. You gotta play and plan with what you're given! Also, make sure you skip cards! Sometimes card rewards are garbage and don't help you in anyway.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

if everyone would just sit down and talk about things

They do that on the best route a bit before the final chapter.
https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Our_Chosen_Paths/Script#Event:_Questions_and_Answers

agesboy posted...

you can outright ignore the base 95% of the time

That's exactly what I do, in both games.

Alfred wants you to do squats for some stats and you can cook for stats. But if you're gonna cook, you have to collect materials for it too, which are scattered around the map or you have to play a mini game for it.

I don't feel that was as big an issue in 3H because a lot of the activities were useless and you can outright skip them, as long as you're maxing out your students' happiness.

I'd rather not have any monastery stuff. It puts too long of a pause on the game and story.

Awakening kinda influenced every game afterwards, so characters have like one gimmick and that's their entire personality.

In terms of gameplay, 3H, you don't really recruit units like you do in regular games. You should plan to have a core of units and use them for the whole game.

Engage is very similar to Awakening. It has the same leveling system with second seals and a world map with extra maps for grinding. You still want a set of core units because the extra maps scale with you, so once a unit gets left behind, it's very hard to catch up.

3H also has NG+ and you can buy skills and combat arts you've mastered before.

Both games have the monastery stuff you do after a battle, kinda like Fates, but so much worse. I didn't like it I'm 3H and then Engage makes it worse. In Engage, they give stat bonuses, so you should probably do it, but it's so tedious.

Between the two, I would recommend 3H.